“Oh, yes, Emmaline said she was proud of me, and Lily and Ada were greatly intrigued,” she said. “But I think Emmaline was also most concerned about what had caused us to wed, what with her grandfather being my father’s business partner and her brother set to work in the business.”
“I can understand that,” he said, before telling her of what Mickey had said about Blackwood as they walked through the door.
She seemed interested, although her face fell in disappointment at the thought of just what her father had involved himself in.
“I’ll find out more tomorrow,” he said, running a hand down her arm, wishing he could extend his touch, but uncertain if she had any wish for him to do so. “You look tired. Why don’t you ready yourself for bed?”
She nodded and left to use the outhouse. When she was gone, Tommy went to work with the extra blanket and pillow he had bought earlier that day. When she entered, her mouth fell open in surprise.
“What are you doing?” she asked, staring down at the makeshift bed on the floor in the middle of the room.
“I thought you needed more space to sleep, so I made a bed for myself,” he said. “You’ll be more comfortable now.”
“Tommy,” she said, stepping forward, shaking her head. “You cannot sleep on the floor.”
“Why not?” he said, confused. Wasn’t this what she wanted? More space for herself.
“It will be so uncomfortable. You won’t get a bit of sleep.”
Actually, he was sure to get a lot more than he had sleeping in the bed next to her, although he wasn’t about to admit that to her. The bed was small enough to start, and he had slept as close to the edge as possible, or else he would have been pressed up against her. Beside her was bad enough, but if he had to touch her all night, his mind went somewhere else entirely as he imagined how he would like to hold her, kiss her, show her all of the pleasure that could be found between husband and wife. He had vowed to sleep next to his wife, but the truth was, so far he couldn’t do so and still get any sleep.
She already had an idea of what could be there — he knew that much from when she had acted out her dream the morning after their wedding night.
Little did she know what he could truly do.
“I’ll be fine, Minnie,” he assured her.
“But you had your game, and you have to work tomorrow,” she said. “I’lltake the floor.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Tommy—”
He crossed the room, reaching out and cupping her cheeks in his hands. “I’m going out to use the outhouse. You prepare for bed, and you better be in it when I return.”
“Or else?”
“Or else I will haul you off the floor and into the bed myself,” he said, his lips twitching as he said it. Was he imagining things, or had her eyes darkened at his stated intent?
Her cheeks turned a beautiful shade of pink, and she ducked her head.
“Very well, then. But we must find a better solution for tomorrow night.”
“Not to worry about it, luv,” he said, before crossing to the door, picking up two buckets on his way. “Lock the door while I’m out, and don’t miss me too much,” he said with a wink before slipping out, not wanting to leave her for even a moment in case something should happen but knowing he didn’t have much of a choice.
When he returned with two full buckets of water, she was, fortunately, lying in his bed, but instead of her back to the room as it had been last night, she was turned over, facing him. He gave her a quick grin as he placed the water into a pot over the fire, then left again. It took him a few trips to fetch water and pour it into the tub he was preparing to bathe. He felt her eyes on him as he washed in the basin, turning his back while he stripped off his shirt.
“I’ll get a curtain tomorrow, but I have to use the tub after the game,” he said, looking over his shoulder with a grin he couldn’t suppress. “You can watch or turn around — your choice.”
She gave a little squeak when he began to undo the fall of his pants, quickly turning around. He finished filling the tub from the water over the fire, one bucket at a time, and when he took a look back, she was still facing the wall as he slid his pants down and stepped into the tub.
He took his time, letting the warm water wash over him and soothe his sore muscles. He closed his eyes, sighing as he leaned his head back, even though his legs were bent near his chest in the small space.
He cracked an eye open just a touch and tried not to react when he saw that Minnie had turned ever so slightly, watching him through hooded eyes as clearly, she thought his were still closed.
“I don’t mind,” he said, startling her, trying not to laugh when she turned back around quickly and pulled the blankets up. “I’m not shy,” he continued. “Besides that, I’m your husband. Take your fill. You won’t be finding it anywhere else.”
He stretched his arms over the sides of the tub, and watched her as she slowly turned back around, her eyes landing on his chest before moving over his arms, his shoulders, and finally stopping on his face.
